The invention relates to the technical field of dispensing machines for paper wipes of the cellulose wadding type for applications such as hand wipes, toilet paper, wiping and cleaning in general.
The Applicant has already developed many machines of this type for the above-mentioned applications. These machines are of the type comprising a housing with a protective cover, said housing being designed to accommodate and enclose a drum designed to position and operate a cutting device. A pressure component pushes against the drum and the reel of wound material is mounted on a reel holder which makes it possible to dispense the strip of material towards the drum so that the strip can be cut when the user manually pulls the strip that emerges from the housing.
Machines of the above-mentioned type are already in use and, generally speaking, meet users""needs satisfactorily. However, certain types of thick wound papers still pose problems because current machines do not operate satisfactorily in terms of dispensing and cutting the paper to size with sufficient reliability.
Another drawback of known paper-wipe dispensing machines is the fact that it is difficult to vary the sizes of the cut strips of paper unless a format selecting device is built into the drum, a process which is complicated and expensive.
Dispensing machines of the known type also make it possible, in certain cases, to move a reel of material that is nearly exhausted towards the back and rear of the machine, thereby freeing the reel holder in order to load a new reel. In this case the machine allows finishing of the first reel until it is completely used up by employing a special mechanism, referred to hereinafter as a xe2x80x9cfinishing rollerxe2x80x9d and automatic presentation of the end of the second reel to the cutting device. Nevertheless, there is still the drawback that it is difficult to access the bottom of the housing without performing manipulations that are relatively impractical.
All these drawbacks led the Applicant to research and design a new paper-wipe dispensing machine that overcomes the above-mentioned drawbacks.
Patent FR 2723303 discloses a dispensing machine which conforms with the preamble to claims 1 and 2.
The first object was therefore to design a machine capable of dispensing and cutting thick unfolded cellulose wadding paper wipes, wound on reels.
Another object sought after according to the invention was to produce a dispensing machine of standardised design that could be used to dispense cut strips of paper of variable size without the need for complex manipulations.
Another object sought after was to devise a dispensing machine that made it possible to fit the finishing roller easily and accessibly after loading a new reel of wipe material.
To achieve this, the object of the invention according to a first variant is a paper-wipe dispensing machine for hand wipe, toilet paper, wiping and cleaning applications in general, the machine being of the type comprising a housing with a hinged protective cover, said housing being devised to allow positioning of a drum that includes a cutting device with an associated cutting blade installed inside the housing and operating as a function of rotation of the drum, a reel holder for a reel of unfolded wound material, means of guiding and directing the paper so that the paper can be removed from the machine, means in the form of rack-and-pinion on the drum and on the facing lateral side of the housing in order to start and eject the cutting blade, characterised in that it comprises a support means consisting of a gantry that swings relative to the housing and accommodates a pinch roller that is in contact with the reel of material an d fulfils the dual function of pushing against and braking the reel and preventing any loops, and in that said gantry is connected to a flap hinged on the front base of the housing by elastic return means, said flap being tiltable depending on the diameter of the drum, and in that a drive means is associated with the drum and the pinch roller and fulfils the dual function of pushing against and braking the reel and preventing any loops in opposition to the paper when it is tensioned as it is pulled by the user.
The second object of the invention according to a second variant is a paper-wipe dispensing machine for hand wipe, toilet paper, wiping and cleaning applications in general, the machine being of the type comprising a housing with a hinged protective cover, said housing being devised to allow positioning of a drum that includes a cutting device with an associated cutting blade installed inside the housing and operating as a function of rotation of the drum, a reel holder for a reel of unfolded wound material, means of guiding and directing the paper so that the paper can be removed from the machine, means in the form of rack-and-pinion on the drum and on the facing lateral side of the housing in order to start and eject the cutting blade, characterised in that it comprises a support means consisting of a gantry that swings relative to the housing and accommodates a pinch roller that is in contact with the reel of material and fulfils the dual function of pushing and braking the reel and preventing any loops, and in that said gantry is connected to a flap hinged on the housing by elastic return means, said flap being tiltable depending on the diameter of the drum of the machine, and in that a drive means is associated with the drum and the pinch roller and fulfils the dual function of pushing against and braking the reel and preventing any loops in opposition to the paper when it is tensioned as it is pulled by the user,
and in that the flap has lateral legs attached to the sides of the housing between which there is a roll placed away from the drum, said roller fulfilling a deflection function with the strip of paper being braked by the pinch roller alone.
These characteristics and others will be apparent from the following description.
In order that the object of the illustrated invention may be more readily understood, in a non-exhaustive manner, reference is made to the following drawings in which: